Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 108

Pat Narduzzi thought the second quarter was too early to take risks, but if he knew then what long-suffering Pitt fans and a national television audience now know as fact, he might have been more inclined to gamble. He didn’t know he had nothing to lose. He didn’t know Notre...

Already hanging onto a tattered thread of respectability before the game, Pitt unraveled completely Saturday at Heinz Field in a 45-3 loss to No. 3 Notre Dame. How do you explain the second-worst loss in Pat Narduzzi’s six seasons as Pitt’s coach? How much time do you have? It starts...

Pat Narduzzi said he wanted to watch more video before coming to a conclusion, but he knew. Of course, he did. Two days (probably longer) before Pitt was set to meet Notre Dame at Heinz Field on Saturday, he knew the identity of his starting quarterback. He even said, “I...

Chris Beatty caught passes at a record-setting pace at East Tennessee State and, later, in the CFL. He has coached young people on that particular skill going back into the previous century, so he believes he knows a dropped pass when he sees one. But as Pitt’s second-year wide receivers...

The Duquesne men’s basketball team has limited its preseason workouts to individual drills after one player tested positive early last week for covid-19, a source told the Tribune-Review. That unidentified player has been quarantined, but the remainder of the team and staff tested negative for the coronavirus. Duquesne also shut...

No one outside his family knows Jordan Addison better than Chris Beatty, his position coach at Pitt. So when Beatty compares Addison to a former Heisman hopeful and a top-10 pick in the NFL Draft, it sounds like in-the-vicinity bias, but it might have stronger roots than that. “He’s been...

Penn State basketball coach Pat Chambers has resigned after “new allegations of inappropriate conduct,” the school announced Wednesday. "As difficult as this news may be, we think it's in the best interest of Penn State, our program and our student-athletes."Watch Sandy Barbour's full opening statement below. pic.twitter.com/ySDL15Am8K— Penn State On...

Jay Vidovich said he doesn’t know how his Pitt soccer players reacted when word reached campus that the team is ranked No. 1 for the first time in the United Soccer Coaches poll. “I haven’t really brought it up to them at all,” he said. So, although Pitt men’s soccer...

Robert Hainsey tells his story with pride, all about a 16-year-old embarking on a new adventure, more than 1,000 miles from home. Yet, he says, “It wasn’t that hard.” Hainsey was captain of the Gateway football team as a sophomore in 2016, and, remarkably, the Gators’ best player, according to...

Back in July, when Pitt was undefeated and temperatures and expectations were rising, Randy Bates could not have predicted what would happen to his defense over the season’s first six games. Four starters, including a preseason All-American defensive tackle, the senior who lines up next him, a valued cornerback and...

The undefeated Pitt men’s soccer team ascended to No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches poll Tuesday, reaching the milestone for the first time in program history. YOU KIDDIN ME LETS GOOOOOO Julie Jurich (@juliejurich) October 20, 2020 The Panthers (4-0, 3-0 ACC) were No. 2 nationally for three...

Former Robert Morris forward Yannis Mendy, who concluded his career this year by helping the Colonials win the Northeast Conference Tournament, has signed with US Avignon-Le Pontet of the National 1 French League. Mendy is the fourth former Colonials player to sign an overseas contract, joining Jeremy Chappell (2005-09), Karvel...

Before embarking on three days of practice, Pat Narduzzi said Monday that Joey Yellen may be the choice for Pitt’s starting quarterback Saturday against No. 3 Notre Dame. If Kenny Pickett (ankle) can’t play, of course. Asked if he enters this week knowing Yellen will start, he said, “Right now,...

Sometimes, a coach just has nowhere to turn. Pat Narduzzi hasn’t reached that point, even though Pitt will take a three-game losing streak into Heinz Field on Saturday to play undefeated and No. 3 Notre Dame (4-0, 3-0 ACC). But injuries and not enough depth (a recruiting issue) have created...

A long, long time ago — or so it seems — an undefeated and nationally ranked Pitt team grabbed a 7-0 lead against N.C. State on the second snap of the game. The N.C. State secondary fell asleep, and Kenny Pickett found Jordan Addison for a 75-yard touchdown pass. That...

Pat Narduzzi did his best to hide the truth from Miami coach Manny Diaz, and he succeeded. Not that it mattered. Narduzzi said he knew early in the week quarterback Kenny Pickett would be unable to play Saturday on his injured left ankle. But he kept talking about Pickett’s toughness...

Nobody questions Kenny Pickett’s value to Pitt’s hopes of escaping the mediocrity — or something worse — that surrounds this season. He is the team’s leader, emotionally and tangibly, and Pitt is a lesser group without him. It showed Saturday in a 31-19 loss to No. 13 Miami at Hard...

Pat Narduzzi kept the secret all week, and it was finally revealed Saturday morning — Kenny Pickett won’t play Saturday at Miami. Pickett, who injured his left ankle last week in the second half of the Boston College game, did not make the trip to Miami with his teammates. Joey...

Every week, with most of the game preparation behind him, Pat Narduzzi gets on his Thursday Zoom conference call and either assures reporters “the hay’s in the barn” or “we’ve had a good week of practice.” Sometimes, he mentions both things. This week, with Pitt (3-2, 2-2 ACC) preparing for...

Pat Narduzzi doesn’t like to talk about injuries, especially when the information might help an opponent’s preparation. But Pitt’s coach did offer 57 words Thursday when he was asked about quarterback Kenny Pickett’s left ankle that was injured in the second half of the Boston College game. He didn’t give...

Pat Narduzzi has been preaching, teaching or designing defensive strategy for 30 years. He believes in recruiting athletic, tough-minded cornerbacks who don’t mind — in fact, prefer — pressing up against wide receivers at the line of scrimmage and covering them with little help from safeties. So it was no...

Pitt and West Virginia officials have worked out an agreement to move their basketball game, postponed this year by covid-19 restrictions, to the 2023-24 season in Morgantown, W.Va. That extends by one season the two-year agreement, finalized earlier this year, for games during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. The teams...

Spectators are returning to Heinz Field for Pitt games, too. Following the lead of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who welcomed people inside for the first time last Sunday, Pitt officials announced Thursday approximately 5,500 fans can attend each of the final two home games — Notre Dame on Oct. 24, and...

Although there is no word on the status of Kenny Pickett’s left ankle — practice, of course, is closed, and coach Pat Narduzzi wants to keep Miami’s coaching staff guessing — there is something else that can’t be questioned: The value of Pitt’s quarterback goes far beyond his ability to...